How to travel to Orlando on a budget

Florida, Orlando, Disney, Mickey Mouse, Universal, SeaWorld, sun etc. etc.
I remember before I went to Orlando the first time that friends were saying it costs a bomb and a real once in a lifetime trip for the family.
The cost quite simply puts it out of reach for a lot of folk however it does not need to cost as much as the Travel Agents say or charge.
This is a short summary of my experiences over the last 6 years of Summer Holidays in and around Orlando and how to do so on a Budget, not staying on the traffic jam that is International Drive but towards the West of Disney in a much quieter and flexible location.

Flights
On the assumption that it's a 4/5 member family travelling the biggest expense will be flights.
The most expensive option is to fly direct via the likes of Aer Lingus Dublin - Orlando, invariably the cheapest time to buy is as soon as the 330day window (international flights pop up available for booking 330days in advance max) as the costs creeps up from there.
The Budget way is to look at indirect flights, while there are multiple ways to get to Orlando (Norwegian Air, Canada, UK based, Air France, via London or Amsterdam) you really do not have to look far past a one-stop Irish - US soil flight and the indirect route is actually a nice option for kids etc as the flight time is broken up.
Air France/Delta/KLM/Lufthansa (and others) share the same flights albeit with different codes and prices so if you see flights on say Air France then search Delta and Lufthansa where you may get the same flight cheaper.
Look to Shannon, Shannon has been €300-€400 cheaper for us the last few years, ask yourself is the road trip to Shannon worth it.
You need to look for Shannon to Chicago/JFK/Philly/Atlanta and then on to Orlando as these are the cheapest I've seen.
Dates have a big part to play too, Easter and the Summer Holidays are the most expensive but if you travel a few day's either side of Easter or just before the school holidays kick in then you will see a price saving, we flew direct with Aer Lingus when the kids were younger, three days either side of the Easter Holidays and cost €2,600, a €1.5k to €2.0k saving versus the core Easter time period.
Want to drive part of the way, be flexible.
Best price we got was €1,641 for indirect flights to Atlanta, then drove 8hrs to Orlando, that was a return flight for 3adults and 2children in July, be flexible and open to this option when putting your flight dates and destination.
I use Delta, Air France, KLM, American Airlines own website, I've never found a cheaper route via those search engines, Skyscanner pops up nice prices from time to time but every time I click in the flights are no longer available.
You need to spend a lot of time in the evenings researching and looking for flights, keep your eye on glitch prices too, they happen.
Remember than to avail of US customs pre-clearance you need to leave from Irish soil (not Belfast) right before landing in the US, if you fly Dublin-London-US then you do not preclear. Preclearance is a HUGE headache avoidance.

Accommodation, next up is where to stay and how much. We're not interested in staying anywhere near the traffic areas such as International Drive and the restriction that are inherent in Hotels like space and washing/cooking etc. Thinking of a 4/5 sized family the best location IMHO is Kissimmee which is located due West of Orlando and very very close to Disney. Look to rental websites such as HomeAway and HolidayLettings, here you can slim down the countless places to stay to suit your dates and group size. We started off with a list of 20 "villas" (houses with pools) and messaged them all, immediately forget about the most expensive ones and then make contact again with the best 5/6 on your list again, really the only separator for your accommodation at this point should be cost so I just say it straight, I have a shortlist of 5 and the only way for me to make up my mind is cost, get their bottom line and then decide with final phone call to owner.. Another tip is to look at their availability calendar, if you are right between other bookings they have then you are in the driving seat as otherwise they are looking at the possibility of an empty property and en empty property till needs air conditioning, pool maintenance, phone/internet and all the other services paid for, it's your money so don't be afraid to bargain hard. We pay €58/night for a 3bed villa with pool during the Summer months, I found the guy via the method above and all villa owners offer a discount for repeat business, we've now stayed with the same guy 5 years in a row. Remember you will need pool heating from October'ish to May'ish, should be fine rest of year, pool heating is always cheaper if organised and paid for in advance. Lot's of home owners are UK based to sterling helping us, but in return sterling is very weak against the dollar so I'd say the UK prices will increase to counteract.

Car rental, Orlando and Florida has excellent roads, do not be afraid of driving there, yes the first half hour or so there will be an element of nerves but they are excellent conditioned roads and a joy to use. The most expensive rental options will be those on site at the airport, try all the usual crowds and the various Car Rental search engines. At Orlando airport the cheapest we've found is Alamo and use the Alamo/Brits offer (there's a travel book called Brits where this offer emanates from) where all insurance etc is paid for, best of all you can check in online, get off the plane, so straight to garage, pick a car and drive off. Cheapest I've got is Sixt which is a short free shuttle bus away, probably about 30-40minutes extra but last year got an Intermediate (think S-Max) SUV for £300 for three weeks in July so well worth the effort. For car size an Intermediate SUV will be fine for a family of 5, I see a lot about luggage etc but that's only for one or two trips so play Tetris, it's only just over half an hour from the airport to Kissimmee, you'll survive.

Food, get your breakfast and easy to prepare food at Walmart or Target, Walmart is the cheapest and a blast to shop at.
Eating out, we keep this to a minimum, in the mornings if you are out all day then stuff yourselves at a Waffle House, you will easily jam a family of 5 for around $30 there and won't have to eat until late afternoon. Bring granola bars for midday pickups, bring water in the car too in one of those cheap white polystyrene freezer boxes as it gets hot hot hot in Orlando. Go anywhere and everywhere at night if you want to, we are usually wrecked after a full day out so something quick from Walmart does the trick. For household and toiletries then Dollar Tree where everything is, well a dollar!

Park tickets, not much between them, try any of Attraction Tickets Direct Irish and UK sites, Florida Escapes, Orlando Attractions etc.

Don't overdo the parks, Disney is Magic Kingdom (minimum two days), Epcot (minimum two days), Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom (not to mention their water parks), Universal is Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure, then there's SeaWorld and the various water parks, Busch Gardens is near Tampa and your ticket will usually come with a free Bus there and back.
To get the best day at the park get there early, the parks are usually virtually empty for the first hour or so and then slowly build up, Disney can hold 100,000 visitors and Magic Kingdom has the third largest car park in the world, these places are BIG. We've arrived at Magic Kingdom at 8AM and left at 1AM, it can be done!

Shopping, any amount of it and everywhere, clothes are so much cheaper there it's not funny, loads of upmarket outlets around International Drive but our favourites are Lake Buena Vista Factory Store and Alamonte Mall (just north of Orlanda) which are quieter and lower prices than the main malls.

Travel Insurance, I've found Multitrip the cheapest and again keep an eye on the likes of Boards for their 10% off/or the like offer, often best to get annual insurance for the small bit extra, this is especially so if you are travelling late one year because if you travel early the next year the same policy will cover you.

You will need an ESTA, leave it as late as possible because it expires after two years of issue, there are some rotten feckers out there on the web who charge an arm and a leg but the only place you should go is the official site, $14 for an ESTA. If you are changing a passport then wait until after you get your new passport as each ESTA is unique to a passport so your ESTA will die when the passport associated with it expires. Your ESTA only needs to be in date for your date of arrival in the US, it does not need to be valid for your length of stay!

That's about it, follow the above and you can do it without compromising on the quality of your holiday, last year we had three weeks for 4adults and a child at €3.5k and that was June/July flights, 3 bed villa with pool, in-direct flights from Shannon, intermediate SUV car rental, travel insurance, parking at airport, ESTAs.....

Hope this helps and good luck with your plans